After an agonizing delay, the United Nations finally confirmed what was clear from the graphic evidence filmed by Hamas itself: Women and girls were brutally raped, mutilated and murdered during the Oct. 7 massacre.
The deafening silence until now left by U.N. officials, human-rights activists and women’s organizations undermines their stated commitment to all women’s rights, especially Jews. More than 200 women marked International Women’s Day by demonstrating outside the headquarters of the UN Women’s Agency for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in New York, chanting “Shame” and “Bring Them Home Now!”
The protest organizer told the crowd:
“UN Women does not see it as their job to keep Israeli women safe. We are OK to be raped, to be murdered. Not one word from the chief of UN Women about what happened to our sisters. ‘Believe all women’ is a feminist promise for all women.”
This issue touches upon International Law and Human ethical compass. Everywhere in the world, men and women of all ages are being confronted with rape being used as a weapon in wars raged by terrorists to subdue populations.
I. Rape denial
This war crime comes in different shapes and forms, and what hostages endured or are enduring is to be known for one main reason: those who deny that rape took place are the same who consider that Hamas and other terrorist groups/ affiliates/ Gazans (who participated in the genocidal sequence of Oct 7)are “freedom fighters/resistants”. Their narrative cannot stand the accusation of rape because NO resistant/freedom fighter would use rape to resist oppression. Therefore all terrorist/Hamas supporters need to deny that rape took place because they cannot justify that cognitive dissonance between a terrorist and a resistant.
How do we respond to those pro-Palestinian/pro-terrorist supporters who keep denying that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Gazan civilians perpetrated a massive rape campaign against Israeli babies, children, men, and women of all ages on Israeli soil? The only explanation to be given to that type of denial is that these pro-Palestinian/Hamas/terrorists still conceive Hamas and other terrorist groups as “freedom fighters engaged in glorious resistance”. Therefore, it is easier for them to rationalize away dead women/children/men than raped ones.
II. A war crime is a war crime. Rape is rape.
a) A war crime such as rape, so obviously born of revenge, exploitative power, antisemitic indoctrination, and misogyny is not so easily explained away. The pro-Palestinian/pro-terrorist supporters cannot deal with the troubling cognitive dissonance; therefore the easiest thing is to decide that it just didn’t happen and that survivors lie, witnesses make things up, etc.
b)When it comes to exposing those who keep spreading a shameful and distorted denial of what constitutes a WAR CRIME under International Law, I resort to anthropology.
The genocide in Rwanda has taught us how far human beings can go to destroy one another; more importantly it brought to light in a very precise and detailed manner the use of rape as a weapon in armed conflicts. The Akayesu case is often referred to in criminal courts, and that proves us that when the law sweeps in, people cannot afford but to face the very nature of their criminal acts.
c)Nevertheless, there are people whose ideological support or distorted moral compass keeps them from sharing common decency and accepting the truth.
Indeed, when they advocate that Hamas, PIJ operatives are resistance fighters and not terrorists, they CANNOT accept the fact that these « resistance fighters » committed rape and brutalised women, children, men. Some of the victims are not with us anymore. Why? They refuse to accept that the war criminals they support are TERRORISTS. Their lack of ethics and their distorted moral compass cannot picture that Resistants would NOT/NEVER rape their enemies to gain military success.
III. Rape is not an act of Resistance
If it were the case, it would imply heroism . Terrorism is by definition the act of imposing TERROR on the other., and Rape is one of the means of terrorism. That is the difference between terrorism and resistance. That’s where these despicable rape deniers have a huge narrative problem. And they know it.
In light of the above, rape denial serves one purpose only : FIT THE « RESISTANCE NARRATIVE ». Denying rape publicly is to be complicit of a WAR CRIME. These pro-terrorism people – who have constantly denied what terrorist groups like Hamas, Islamic Jihad AND Gazans did and are doing to Israeli victims of October 7 and to the hostages- are making this war crime less visible to the point it could become normal. They need to be EXPOSED for what they are: FILTH. This is the least we can do for the victims.
No war justifies rape, no matter which side you support.
